DESCRIPTION

That intrepid and beautiful explorer, Lara Croft, is back to clean up some unfinished business in Tomb Raider: The Lost Artifact. Developer Core Design Ltd. was not satisfied with leaving Tomb Raider III: The Adventures of Lara Croft as it was initially published. They have tweaked the original game and added five new levels for this action-packed expansion.

Following up on the conclusion of Tomb Raider III, Lara receives a strange invitation to Loch Ness and the dastardly Dr. Willard's Scottish estate. She arrives at a derelict and empty castle, and must discover why the combination of the four original artifacts she had previously collected, (from Tomb Raider III), ended up turning Dr. Willard into a giant spider.

It turns out there was a little more to the puzzle than she originally expected, a newly revealed fifth artifact — the Hand of Rathmore, and she's off to track it down. Lost for many years, the true properties of this final piece are yet to be known or witnessed.

As you delve deeper into the mystery, you will also learn that there are other parties who have a keen interest in acquiring the artifact — for what appears to be a sinister purpose...

Traces found at the castle's subterranean laboratory indicate that the fifth artifact was indeed once there, but has been recently removed. You, as Lara, will pick up a dangerous trail that will lead to the discovery of the true properties (and purpose) of The Lost Artifact. A newspaper headline and photograph provide further clues — an inexplicable disaster in the Channel Tunnel will take you south where you will become entangled in a sabotage attempt on the tunnel and discover a secret underwater facility used for government experimentation. The trail then leads to France, where you must explore the Poissy Zoo and the Paris Catacombs in search of the awful truth behind The Lost Artifact.

Tomb Raider: The Lost Artifact was one of the launch titles of Eidos' Premier Line of value priced titles in Europe, and was titled Tomb Raider III: The Lost Artifact. In the United States the game was launched as part of the Platinum Collection line of products without the "III" in the title. ~ Rich Hernandez, All Game Guide